Aker Solutions has been busy waving the flag for this Brazilian expansion plans, recently laying the foundation stone for its new plant in Paraná that will double its subsea production capacity in the country.

The plant in São José dos Pinhais in Paraná state will be operational in 2015, and replace the company’s current subsea manufacturing facility in Curitiba. The new facility will have about 1,200 employees and generate work for an additional 5,000 people at suppliers, says Aker. The plant will be built on a plot of land totalling 168,220sq metres.

The Norwegian contractor is undertaking the expansion after winning a contract in April to deliver subsea equipment to Petrobras. The contract, worth NOK 4.6 Bn (US $800m), is for 60 well-sets with vertical subsea trees, subsea control systems, tools and spares to be used on the operator’s deepwater pre-salt field developments off Brazil.

Aker last year also started building a new multi-purpose service site for its drilling equipment business in Macaé, 180 km northeast of Rio de Janeiro. That facility, set to open in 2014, will expand the company’s capacity to serve the Brazilian drilling market in Brazil.